Improvement in railroad journal-boxes



w; GROAT.

Car-Axle Box.

No. 41.616. Patented Feb. 16. 1864.

N.PEYERS. FHOT0-UTHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. 0, C7

U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

. "WARNER GROAT, or GREEN ISLAND, NEW YORK.

iM PROVE MENT IN RAILROAD JOURNAL-BOXES.

To all iuho m itmay concern:

Be it known that I, WVARNER GROAT, of Green Island, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Journal-Boxes for Shafting and the Axles of Railroad-Oars, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, ref- Fig. 3, a front view of the same; Fig. 4, a

back view of the same, partly in section.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

-This invention relates, first, to a new and improved packing constructed, arranged, and applied in such a manner as to effectually retain the oil or other lubricating material in the box, and at the same time be capable of being adjusted snugly to the axle as the hearing wears, and also capable of being removed in part for the insertion of a new bearing when necessary, and capable of lifting up and sustaining the wheel and axle when a car is raised and adjusted on the track; and also possesses the advantage of admitting of being removed when worn out, checked, or rendered defective from other causes, and a new packing inserted in its place without removing the trucks from the ear-body, raising the car, or'

manipulating the latter in any way whatever.

The invention relates, second, to an improved removable plate or door at the front end of the box, constructed and arranged in such a mannerthat it may be adjusted in position and removed with the greatest facility for the insertion of the lubricating material and the removal of the bearing, and at the same time, when adjusted in position,be firmly retained oil-tight in its proper place.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention,I will proceed to describe it.

A represents the box,which may be of castiron and of the usual form, but cast with a vertical recess or chamber, a, at its rear end,

said chamber extending the whole height of the box, open at top and bottom, and extending the whole width of the box, not including its sides, a. The back plate, b, of the chamber, and the back plate, I), of the box A have each an elliptical opening, c, made in them, through which the axle B passes into the box A, and within the chamber a the packing is inserted, the same consisting of two wooden strips, 0 0, one of which, 0, is fitted in a slot in the other, C, as shown in Fig. 4. The strip G is the upper one, which is slotted vertically and centrally from its lower end upward, the upper end of the slot being of semicircular form to fit snugly over the axle B. The width of 0 corresponds to the width of the interior of the chamber a. The lower strip, 0, is of such a width that it may fit snugly in the slot of C, but without binding unnecessarily hard therein, and the upper end of O is hollowed out in semicircular form, so that it may fit snugly against the under side of the axle B.

Theinner surfaces of the two Wooden strips C C may be covered with leather, a or other suitable or similar material to bear against the back plate, I), of the box A, as shown more particularly in Fig. 1.

The back plate, 12, of the chamber a has a dovetail opening, d, made transversely in it to receive a wooden key, D, which is shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 4. This key firmly retains the packing in place as it bears against 0 and against 0 at each side of O, as will be seen by referring to Fig. 4.

E represents the bearing, which is fitted within the box A in the usual way, and F is a check-plate fitted within the box at the end of the axle in the ordinary or any proper manner.

From the above description it will be seen that as the bearing E wears and the box A correspondingly lowers, the lower end of the upper strip, 0, of the packing will also wear under the friction of the axle and keep snug to the latter, while the lower strip, 0, may be adjusted upward from time to time by a tap of a hammer. Thus the packing may always be kept oil-tight in contact with the axle B. It will also be seen from the above description that by simply loosening the key D the strip 0 may be lowered, so as to admit of the axle and bearing E falling when the box A, truck, and body of the car are raised for the purpose of removing the bearing from the box, the falling of the bearing being necessary for its removal in order that it m'ayclear the eleat or projection e in the upper part of the box. It will further be seen that in case of a car running off the track the lower strip, 0, of the packing will, when the key D is driven snugly home and the ear is raised, lift and sustain the wheel and axle, and without any danger of injuring the packing by crushing.

' The last and most essential feature of my packing consists in the fact that in case it becomes defective through any means it may be removed, both strips 0 O, and new ones inse'rted without detaching the car from its truck or disturbing or manipulating any of the parts of either the car or truck. A great deal of time and labor is thereby saved in adjusting new packing to the box.

G represents a wooden plate or door, which is fitted in the upper inclined front end of the box A, and bears against beveled surfaces, so as to fit in place in wedge-like form. This wooden plate or door is covered by a metal plate, H, the lower part, f, of which is of taper form and fits between inclined dovetail guides g g at the front end of the box A, the upper part, f, of plate H being inclined, corresponding to the inclination of the wooden plate or door G. This upper part, f, of the plate H,when the latter is adjusted to the box A, catches at its upper end under a bead, h, at

'the top of the box A, as shown in Fig. 1, said plate H leaving suffieient spring or elasticity to admit of this result.

In order to remove the wooden plate or door G, all that is required is simply to force upward the plate H and remove it from the box, and then take out the door, and the interior of the box is rendered accessible for the lubricating material or for the removal of the bearing E.

The advantage of the wooden plate or door G is that it will always be retained properly in position, and will prevent the leakage of oil from the box. An iron plate or door would work loose under the motion of the car, and could not be retained in a proper oil-tight position'without some special fastening. The same advantage applies to the wooden strips 0 G, which compose the packing, and also to the wooden key D.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The packing composed of the wooden strips 0 0, covered at their inner side with leather a or other suitable material,and fitted together as shown, or in an equivalent way, within a chamber, a, at the rear of the box A, and secured by a wooden key, D, substantially as herein set forth. H

2. The wooden plate or door G,fitted within the inclined front end of the box A, as and for the purpose specified. I

3. The metal plate H,fitted to the frontend of the box A, in combination with the wooden plate or door G, arranged substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

WARNER GROAT.

Witnesses:

Trros. L. J. DOUGLAS, D. ROBERTSON. 

